Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 3) — American companies are looking to hire 75,000 Filipino seafarers in the “next three to four years,” the Palace announced on Wednesday.
In a statement, Malacañang said that during a meeting with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in Washington, John Padget, president and CEO of Carnival Corp., disclosed that his group of companies is set to hire Filipino seafarers to support their operations.
“It doesn’t matter whether it’s the marine, deck, hospitality, restaurant…everything is based on the happiness, the smile, and the greatness of the Filipino employees,” said Padget, who also represents Carnival Cruise Line, Holland American Airlines and Seaborn.
Migrant Workers Secretary Susan Ople, who was also at the meeting, presented to the US firms “the interest of 200,000 Filipinos,” assuring them that they “adhere to fair and ethical standards and principles.”
Marcos, meanwhile, lauded the US employers for their continued confidence in Filipino workers.
“When you say that the ladies and gentlemen that we have here today represent 200,000, you do not represent 200,000 employees, you represent 200,000 families and you represent 200,000 communities in the Philippines,” he told the employers
According to Malacañang, over 4 million Filipino immigrants are residing in the United States.
When Marcos visited the Filipino-American community in Washington earlier, he said overseas Filipino workers’ remittances had kept the Philippines afloat during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
